The "Set Back" Trap

Oh my goodness.... Hello Internets!

I apologize for my blogging absence. As some of you may know, I started my masters last September and it has seem to have taken over my life. However, I am determined to continue my dedication to helping people become and stay physically active, so you will be seeing a lot more writing from me (the majority of my coursework is complete!).

Based on a series of recent events, I thought an appropriate topic would be how to avoid "the set back trap". 

Before I provide some advice on how to avoid this phenomenon, I'll first explain what it is. The set back trap is essentially the discontinuation of a desired behaviour due to external (or internal) events that "get in the way" of this behaviour.

This can apply to any behaviour, whether it is exercise, eating healthy or quitting smoking. For the rest of this blog post I will focus on exercise (i.e., purposeful physical activity), since this is a physical activity blog. 

Consider this scenario: 

Avoid the Set Back Trap!

 Beth is unhappy with her weight and the amount of exercise she is getting. After she got married, work, moving into a new house, and life always seemed to stop her from working out. However, this January, Beth started doing bootcamp classes as part of her new "active" lifestyle. In late February she caught the flu and was sick for almost 3 weeks. It is now April and she has still not returned to the gym because she is embaressed for falling off the wagon and feels like a failure. She has also started eating junk food and drinking every night to help her de-stress from work.

If you're like me (or how I used to be), this scenario may be all to real for you. From my work in the field I know that is a trap a lot of people fall into. It follows a specific pattern....

Guilt --> Exercise Initiation --> Perceived Set Back -->  Discontinuation --> Feeling of Failure --> Continued Discontinuation --> Negative Health Behaviours 

 If you've noticed in the above diagram I've highlighted "Perceived Set Back". The reason I have done this, is I believe this is the area we can break the cycle from spiraling out of control.

So how do we change this cycle. Well I have 2 tips that I’ve used over the years....

1. Expect Set Backs

 The first thing I always tell my clients when trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle is to expect setbacks. If you are a type A/Perfectionist (aka me), this is probably the hardest thing to do. I find women also have a hard time expecting things to go wrong.

However, there is a way to deal with the inevitable, and that is…

 Schedule 3 weeks off of your exercise routine a year! By this I don't mean schedule exact weeks in January, but anticipate 3 weeks of the year (similar to work) that you think you may experience a set-back. I used to schedule this around finals of heavy semesters, when I usually get sick for the year (e.g., flu season) or if I was going on vacation.  

Disclaimer: I do not recommend this technique for people trying to stop a negative behaviour (e.g., smoking cessation) but for people trying to adopt a positive behaviour (e.g., working out, eating healthy)

2.  Have Positive Perceptions of Set Backs:

 

How you perceive expected setbacks is just as important as expecting them in the first place. This is probably one of, if not the most, important concepts to adopt in behaviour change, but unfortunately is the hardest.

 It has to do with how you a) assess and b) respond to inevitable setbacks. It's important not to perceive yourself as a failure when life does get in the way of your exercise routine.

A lot of this has to do with your self-talk (i.e., what you say to yourself on a daily basis). Below I’ll give some examples of positive self talk and negative self talk regarding the same setback context. 

Positive Self Talk

·         “Wow getting sick sucked, but I can’t wait until I’m better because I’m dying to get to the gym again.”

·         “I bet my personal trainer missed me last week; I can’t wait to see them again.”

·         “I’m glad that busy work week is over because now I can get back to my exercise routine.”

·         “I’ll take this crazy week as one of my 3 break weeks of the year, now time to get back on track”

Self Talk Your Way Over Your Barriers

Negative Self Talk

·         “Oh my god, I haven’t worked out in three weeks because I was sick, now I’m so busy because I was sick. All I want to do is sit on the couch and decompress.”

·         “My personal trainer probably hates me because I missed last week’s sessions, well, I’ll just stay home.”

·         “God damnit this week sucked, all I want to do is drink beer because I’m so stressed out, I can’t even think about exercising.”

·         “I can’t believe I couldn’t make it to the gym because of last week. I’m such a failure, I’m no good at anything, I’m going to be a fat slob forever.”

Life Happens, but You're Strong!

The important thing is, is to realize how you talk to yourself, how you rationalize not getting back to the gym after a set back and changing the cycle. This takes work, but if you can change your perceptions regarding inevitable setbacks, then you’re less like to “fall off the wagon” so to speak. 

 For example, I was not able to neither get to the gym nor climb for 3 weeks in late February /early March because I was sick with the flu. However, instead of saying "well there's no point of going now because I failed" I said to myself "I can't wait until I'm better because I'm dying to get to the gym and climb again".  

So I hope this helps! As always if anyone has questions, comments, or concerns I'd love to here them. My question for those of you that avoid this trap is also... what do you do to overcome setbacks and barriers to staying physically active?!

Stay Strong

Byn